Improvement in latches for cupboards



i 3 To all whom `it may concern:

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WILLIM E. SPARKS, CF NEW- IIAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TC SAR- Letters Patent No. 104,370, dated June 14, 1870.

IMPRQVEMBNT 1N LA'rcHEs ron cornaoauns.`

The Schedule referred to in` these Letters Patent and iaking part of the same.

Beit known that I, VVILLIAM E. SPARKS, ot' New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of lConnecticut, have invented a new Improvement in l Cupboard-Latch; and I do hereby declare the lfollowl ing, when taken in connection with the accompanying a drawings and theletters of reference marked thereon,

` `1` flto`be a full, clear, and exact description of 'the same,

.l `andwhich saiddrawings constitute partof this speci- 3 ticaton, and represent iu- Figure 1, a front view of the latch, as attached to the door; y

Figure 2, a side view of the latch, as arranged for i la left-hand door, with the pivot-plate removed;

Figure 3,t-he same, for alight-hand door; and Figure 2", a side view of the pivot plate, detached. This invention relates to an improvement in that class of latches known to the ,trade as clipboardr latches, that is, small latches arranged so as to be op- Y erated upon butone side ofthe door, the object ofthe invention being suoli a construction that the same latch may be adapted to either a right or left-hand door, and it consists in the arrangement of a pivot `upon which the latch is `hung eceentrically upon a covering-plate, so that, by turning the said plate upl or down, as the case may be, the latch "is set iu one po- 1 stion for a right-had door, and in the otherpof ,sition for aleft-hand door.

`A is the latch-plate.`

` 'B the latch, arranged upon the plate so as to extend I 3 back beneath a covering-plate, C. l The said covering-plate C is provided with a stud,`

a, see tig.,2", to set int-c a perforation, d, in the latch, (see fig. 3,) and so that the latch will turn freely on the stud a as a pivot.

The plate A is provided with a guard, D, and the latch with a knob, E, in the usual manner.

The plate C is set over the latch on the plate A, and a screw, F, passed through its center, secures the plate C ill-position, and, at the same time, aids in securing the latch-plate to the door.

The plate C, set over the latch in the position seen in fig. 2, holds the latch for that door.v For the reverse doorV it is necessary to turn the latch over, the

I other latch up; then to bring the latch into line, turn the plate C until the pivot is carried over to the reverse position, or as seen in iig. 3.

I prefer the central screw F as a means for holding the plate C, `but itmay be held in position so as to be prevented from accidentally turning by other devices, as corresponding notches ou both plates, A and C.

I do not wish t-o be understood as broadly claiming a latch made reversible by shifting its bearings from one position to another, as such is not new.

" I claim as my invention- 4In combination with t-he latch B and its plate A,

the plate C, having a rotary adjustment, so as to set the said latch into either a right or left-hand position,

by means of the pivot a, fixed upon the said adjustable plate.

W-ILLIAM E. SPARKS.

Witnesses J. H. SHUMWAY, A. J. Trnnrrs. 

